Is this Twilight for the Bain attacks?

posted at 8:41 am on May 25, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

I often refer to Team O and Team Romney when discussing the campaigns, as it makes for an easy shorthand that everyone can understand. Little did I know that it also made sense as a kind of Twilight reference. While Team O accused Mitt Romney of being a vampire capitalist because of his work at Bain Capital, one of Barack Obama’s national co-chairs also turns out to be a vampire capitalist as well — at least by Obama’s definition:

One of President Barack Obama’s top campaign spokesmen is a private equity manager whose firm has shut down several factories and laid off hundreds of people amid a stalled economy.

Federico Pena’s role at Vestar Capital Partners has emerged as Obama’s aides and deputies continue their effort to portray former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney‘s investment career as ruthless, job-destroying, profit-maximizing “vulture capitalism.” Pena has been a partner at Vestar since 2000.

Pena is a former mayor of Denver in swing-state Colorado, a former cabinet member for President Bill Clinton and one of 35 “national co-chairs “ of the president’s 2012 campaign.

The news will likely further undermine the Obama campaign’s effort to focus on Romney’s business practices, rather than Obama’s White House policies, and the resulting debt, deficits and unemployment.

Say, the Obama campaign does remind me a little of the Twilight series. I hear a whole lot of emphasis on just how dreamy Obama is, along with a whole lot of whiny angst about how the rest of the world isn’t brilliant enough to understand him. Toss in a tiresome teenage-crush angle, and I think we have a movie series.

The president maintained that the private equity industry is a welcome part of the economy – risk-takers and investors should be rewarded, he said. But their motives are not job creation.

“The people who work in these firms will tell you that’s not their goal,” Obama said, explaining that the goal for private equity companies, such as Bain, the company Romney co-founded, is “maximizing short-term gains for your investors.”

“There may be value for that type of experience but it’s not in the White House,” the president said, where the goal is “strong and sustainable, broad-based growth.”

That’s obviously been true for the past three and a half years. How has that worked out for us? Here’s a chart of the civilian population participation in the workforce:

This shows that more and more people have lost work but are no longer counted among the workforce — millions who have entered into a Twilight world of their own, where they’re neither workers nor retirees. They just have simply … ceased to exist to this administration.

By golly, they’re not vampires — they’re zombies.

Update: Here’s the best part — Obama will keep the money he’s received from … Bain Capital:

Though the Obama campaign has repeatedly attacked Mitt Romney for his career at Bain Capital, President Obama still accepted $7,500 in campaign contributions from three Bain executives. His campaign press secretary, Ben LaBolt told The Politicker the president has no intention of giving the money back.

Blowback

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How is maximizing profits not good? That’s the whole point of a business, big or small. Making money. The creation of jobs and the benefits provided to society by their goods or services are a byproduct of their financial success.

If Obama really believes the BS he’s spouting(and after 3 1/2 years of his Presidency, I think he does), then he seriously needs to get run in November because this economy will never recover as long as he’s presiding over it.

Here’s the best part — Obama will keep the money he’s received from … Bain Capital:

He needs every penny. WH staff has been directed to check the cushions after visitors leave and the National Park Service is emptying all the DC fountains. He’d take a donation from Uncle Joe Stalin if he could get it.

The president maintained that the private equity industry is a welcome part of the economy – risk-takers and investors should be rewarded, he said. But their motives are not job creation.

In Obama’s fustercluck of a world, the only goal a business of any kind should have is to provide jobs and generous benefits to its lower and middle class employees, the hell with profits for the risk-taking owners of same.

Vulture socialist is the best description yet of this capitalism-hating, America despising, sorry excuse of a human being.

Say, the Obama campaign does remind me a little of the Twilight series. I hear a whole lot of emphasis on just how dreamy Obama is, along with a whole lot of whiny angst about how the rest of the world isn’t brilliant enough to understand him. Toss in a tiresome teenage-crush angle, and I think we have a movie series.
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Well,on a positive note,Hopey as a Socialist could Wish all the
Democrats and Liberals into the corn field!,which would free up
two political war fronts!!!
(snark)

Really? Who knew. Bain not only has maximized “short-term” gains but build a majority of companies into long term, sustainable, profitable companies that have employed thousands of people over the years.

By the way, I love how Obama tries to take a subject as complex as PE and turn it into something negatively meaningful to everyday John and Jane voters. He might as well try to explain molecular biology to people who could care less about it.

What PR nightmare, bro? Outside Hot Air readers, nobody will hear of that money.

Archivarix on May 25, 2012 at 9:06 AM

Yeah they will. When Romney throws it in Obama’s face at the debates. Ironically, the drive-bys are doing Obama a disservice by burying this stuff. The last thing you want is for voters to hear about it for the first time during the fall when people start really paying attention to the campaign. Better to get it out there now(ala Rev. Wright in early 2008) so it’s played out by the time November rolls around.

I think there are some that are missing the point… I’m a committed Romney supporter, but still I accept Obama’s point that Bain’s motivation wasn’t about creating jobs, but to assist struggling/new businesses become successful and thereby earning a return for investors.
The distinction should be that Bain used private money and required structural changes; whereas, the Obama administration kept throwing taxpayer’s money at Solyndra, Fisker, et al, to guarantee a nice return for their campaign donors.
We must insist that our government be good stewards of our tax dollars. Wasteful, inefficient, and risky spending must be eliminated.

…..these Bain attacks have been such a failure that Obama’s own democratic party has come out against them…….
…………….
…………………..”winning like Charlie Sheen”………

….I know…
……………….let’s “pivot” to “I’m not a bit spender”…..Bush spent all that money…..
…………….you know….the trillions of dollars that my democratic majorities on the Hill voted for and passed on my watch.

Ha! Wow…how utterly moronic do you have to be to push this line of attack while having one of those “vulture” capitalists as a member of your staff, as well as keeping donations from the very company you’re demonizing?

Completely shameless. I hope the Romney campaign is out there touting this whenever and however they can, because this is beyond the pale in terms of political malpractice.

This was a very ill-conceived plan of attack. Was this Axelrod’s idea, or is he just following orders from Jarrett?

Romney now needs to cut them off at the knees over this “47th in the nation” claim the communist party keeps pushing. Each state is different and each data point needs context. From what I have read, Massachusetts was 50th in the nation with regard to unemployment, when Romney took office. He managed to bring it up to 38th before the economy stalled and hiring went flat. By the end of his term trending data predicted the state would move to 12th in the country.

47th only has relevance, when compared to a beginning point and an ending point. Romney had that very blue state moving in the right direction on the jobs front. He also improved their credit rating in the midst of all this economic turmoil. That ain’t too shabby.

Obama has been a venture capitalist too, but with worse results. He forced GM and Chrysler in to bankruptcy and closed down hundreds of dealerships which resulted in thousands of people out of work and many dealership owners with worthless property.

Obama’s investments in companies like Solyndra have been a waste of taxpayer money to further the Obama’s administration Green Energy objectives. But just like in the world of venture capital, not all projects succeed and thousands of employees have lost their jobs or their private investments when companies like Solyndra have to shut their doors and declare bankruptcy.

I can’t believe no-one is taking the White House to task for their own venture capital projects that have gone belly-up.

The distinction should be that Bain used private money and required structural changes; whereas, the Obama administration kept throwing taxpayer’s money at Solyndra, Fisker, et al, to guarantee a nice return for their campaign donors.
We must insist that our government be good stewards of our tax dollars. Wasteful, inefficient, and risky spending must be eliminated.

Of the over 300 companies Bain has invested time and money into, only 5% landed in bankruptcy. Those are excellent numbers for a private equity firm, but we will never hear them quoted in the nightly news.

FYI, I did a post on the labor participation rate at The Conservatory (conservativecommune.com) — I think a more fair comparison is the 25-to-54 age group, as those are prime working years. You’re not counting kids in school nor retirees.

And those stats are still damning. The slide from October 2008 (the most recent peak) to April 2012 is hideous to see.

The labor participation rate we have currently was last seen in the mid-1980s, as there were still women entering the workforce in greater numbers (topped out in the 90s).

The President has no understanding whatsover of capitalism or what makes the economy tick, or frankly, how jobs are created. Attacking Bain Capital for wanting to maximize profits damns every other for-profit business in the country, big and small, with the same ignorant attack. The huge majority of companies are for-profit. Should they attempt to lose money? Those beginning each of these businesses take a risk that they will lose all their seed money and, in some cases, their life savings. Yet they start businesses with a dream to earn a living for themselves and for their families. When they make a profit, they can expand the business and hire additional employees. They will then pay taxes, as will their employees. They will even have money for charitable giving. OF COURSE WE WANT BAIN AND OTHER BUSINESSES TO MAKE A PROFIT. That is how jobs are created, taxes are paid and Americans succeed. This president does not understand the fundamental nature of job creation and that is why we have a real unemployment rate of 16% (or whatever the figure is now). We need someone like Gov. Romney in office who understands the fundamentals of our economy.